In Arduis Fidelis
by Yukann
Summary: At age ten, Draco manages to stumble across a strange cavern under his home while hiding from his house elves. While there was no dragon hidden underneath now, someone else is indeed within that same cavern.


A/N: hi guys! I'm not dead yet! For those of you following Strange or another one of my stories, I'm planning to update around mid to end December, hopefully before Christmas. I haven't started on any of the chapters yet tho so it's no guarantee but I will try to update all of my incomplete stories. Anyways, here's another Merlin/HP xover storyline/oneshot I hope someone will pick up. It's probably inaccurate as heck with regards to canon and my shitty Latin, with a rushed storyline since I'm writing this at 2am but hey, creative liscence right? :) anyways, hope you guys enjoy ~!

Unbeta'd as usual so please feel free to point out any language errors!

C01:

Draco Malfoy, heir to the Most Noble and Ancient House of Malfoy, stumbled down the stairs into one of his family's underground chambers. He had been running from his house elf again when he spotted a small, almost unnoticeable trapdoor on the ground and had opted to hurry through it when he'd heard the voices of the elves frantically calling him from behind. Draco slipped the door open, crawled in and pulled the door shut, and not a moment too soon as he heard a few squeaky voices from above him. With a slight smirk, he set about to explore the place he'd found.

The walls were made of stone and covered in a few inches of dust. Clearly no one has been down here in a very long time. The torches that hung on the walls magically lit up when Draco walked past them, providing the light Draco needed to navigate given that he hadn't had his wand yet. He was after all only ten years old.

Slowly, the Malfoy heir stumbled through the narrow passageway for about a hundred meters before it opened up to a gigantic cavern with large stalactites hanging from the ceiling, a few hundred meters away.

A large rusted chain lay abandoned on the small raised platform in the middle of the cave. Where a large crystal also stood.

Merlin's beard, it was humongous!

The green, slightly glowing crystal was stretched from floor to the ceiling a good distance away and inscribed with various runes, all pulsating softly. Right in the center of the crystal, a dark shadow could be faintly seen.

The ledge Draco was standing on was connected to the central platform by stairs so because of his curiosity, the Malfoy heir slowly made his way to the giant crystal structure.

When he finally stood close enough to touch it, Draco could feel the energy it gave off, soothing, cold and very, very powerful. Clearly, whoever made this was of great power.

He lifted his right hand before he hesitated. What if the crystal had some charm that injured?

Despite the hesitation, Draco still resolutely pushed his hand forward. Nothing was going to happen, was his straightforward belief.

The moment one of his fingers brushed the surface of the crystal, a blinding white light was suddenly emitted.

As Draco closed his eyes in responds to the pain, the runes suddenly started to pulsate even harder. Words appeared in Draco's mind: In Arduis Fidelis, Loyalty in Adversity.

The light faded, and as the child slowly opened his eyes, pondering upon the meaning of that phrase, he witnessed the green crystal slowly starting to melt, dripping into the ground and then disappearing bit by bit.

When it was all over, all that was left was the figure of a young man with black hair and startlingly large ears. His blue eyes bore into grey ones with a thousand-yard gaze so intense Draco actually flinched from it. Immediately following that show of discomfort, the strange man's face turned a little apologetic.

"Hey, you alright there?" The man asked, a hand hovering between them, afraid to touch but wanting to all the same.

Draco composed himself. The Malfoy heir cannot be caught being so shameful!

"I'm fine, thank you for the concern."

He raised a hand, whilst stating a little snootily, "I'm Draco Malfoy, and you are?"

The man smiled warmly and took his hand to shake, "Emrys, Merlin Emrys. Nice to meet you."


End file.
